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As well as the extra police officers to support frontline policing, including response and investigations, the force also claims the proposals would see it balance its budget over the next four years by delivering £3.1 million savings.

But police community support officers (PCSOs) numbers could be cut from 126 to a minimum of 80 posts by natural turnover.

The plans to change where rapid response vehicles are stationed has caused concern – but the move has been strongly defended by force chiefs.

One police officer in the force, who asked not to be named, said: “What the Chief Constable failed to mention in the press release about 50 extra officers is that police response cars now based in Histon and Cambourne will be moved to Cambridge which raises concerns about the safety of the public because it will take much longer for officers to get through rush hour traffic.

“Speaking to my colleagues, we are very concerned that there will be much longer response times in rural areas.

“And there won’t be enough parking spaces at Parkside with an extra eight or 10 patrol cars parked there as well as the extra staff from the two police stations. We will have to park on the street or at the nearest multi-storey car park if we don’t want to get a parking ticket.

“They say this is a consultation but they will do what they want. Officers are worried that if a burglary victim calls say at 5pm and we want to get out there as quickly as possible, particularly if they are distressed, we will be stuck in Hills Road traffic like everyone else as we wouldn’t use blue lights for something like that.

“Even if we did use blue lights to say get out to Linton, it will still take us a lot longer to get through busy traffic instead of just going down the M11.

“We just can’t see the reason except that they think they will be better able to cover emergency responses in the city but that is neglecting those people living in rural areas.”

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But Det Chief Supt Chris Mead insisted the public would not be at risk and the move would improve response times.

He told the News: “The response bases are where officers will start their shift but in reality the majority of their time will be spent out on the beat.

"Officers have mobile technology that negates the need for them to return to the police station and through our Demand Hub we will be able to send officers who are closest to the location of an emergency. Therefore if there is an emergency in Histon they will still receive the same service.

“The proposed response plans have been designed using extensive mapping research around our demand to both emergency and non-emergency calls and incidents going back three years.

"Officers will be based in the locations that will enable us to reach those who call with an emergency quickest.

“Public safety will not be risked by this proposal, it will be enhanced as we will be able to respond to emergency calls more effectively.

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"The data shows we receive comparatively low number of emergency calls in areas such as Histon and Cambourne compared to the city centre and it is relevant to note that South Cambridgeshire stretches to the Suffolk, Essex and Herts borders where response is likely to be significantly improved with a response from Cambridge.

“Officers receive driving training so that they have the skills to drive in all environments, safely and effectively. This is about having the right people, in the right place at the right time.

“In terms of parking priority has always been given to patrol vehicles and that will continue to be the case. As part of the review we have looked closely at our estate to ensure response bases are in suitable areas.”